Lunar Calendar
by emily.down
Summary: The sixth book told from Luna's perspective. Read about her odd adventures in her Fifth year at Hogwarts and her budding romance with Neville Longbottom.
1. Chapter 1

_Well, it was time for me to finally write this down because I've been shipping Luna and Neville for quite a while now and I am very fond of them. They are probably the most adorable couple I could imagine from the books. It's a real pity they aren't canon. Oh, well, more to write for me:) I hope you like this first chapter. Some of the lines here are taken directly from Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, Chapter Seven-The Slug Club, but most of them are changed, for obvious reasons. _

_Anyways, tell me what you think :)_

Chapter One: Moonbeam

'Good morning, my little moonbeam!' Xenophilius Lovegood boomed happily as he climbed up the stairs to his daughter's bedroom while levitating a large trey full of tea, biscuits and marmalade.

'Welcome_, papa,_ to moonbeam's humble abode,' Luna spoke ceremoniously as she took the trey from mid-air and placed it on one of her small decorative tables.

She did a curtsey and kissed her father's cheek loudly.

He laughed and took her up into his arms and swung her around the room, her feet barely touching the ground.

'Today's the day, my darling! My first crops of Honey-Spurks have hatched and they are ready to be sung to!'

'Oh, really, papa? We'll finally get to sing?' Luna asked surprised.

'Absolutely! My fresh new material is awaiting your judgement, of course,' he said, putting her down.

Luna flashed a brilliant smile.

'I am sure my judgement is no better than a Honey-Spurk's.'

Xenophilius waved his hand in a humble fashion and looked about the room startled.

'Did I interrupt a morning ritual?'

'Not at all, papa. I was just making some chains for my friends.'

Even Xenophilius, in his infinite tolerance, found this bit of news slightly unsettling.

'Chains, moonbeam?'

She pointed up towards the ceiling where her father saw her familiar hand-painted pictures of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom.

'Yes, I can see your friends up there,' he said, nodding his head.

'Well, I am making these golden chains to place around the pictures.'

'Afraid the Nargles will snatch them away? I don't believe they would, dear, they're not of value to those pesky fiends.'

'Oh, no, Nargles wouldn't take them, they would rather take my jewellery first. I am just using the chains to spell the word 'friends',' she said, smiling pleased.

Xenophilius' grin softened a little as a flicker of sadness crossed his otherwise clear blue eyes.

'Oh, of course, you do that darling, I'm sure it will be a fine improvement.'

He thought everything his daughter accomplished was an improvement. She had turned her room into a real spectacle of delight.

'I thought so myself,' she said, following his gaze. 'You know, decorating _is_ my safety plan.'

'Safety plan?' he asked, puzzled.

'If I don't become friends with all the Magical Creatures, that is. I might fall back into decorating.'

Xenophilius smiled proudly. He knew what 'friends with' meant in this context. She was going to be a fine researcher someday, just like himself and her mother.

'Well, I don't think you'll be needing it, since you're already so well acquainted with most Magical Creatures,' he replied genially.

'Yes, but decorating might help me pay for my green houses and laboratories,' she said pensively, drawing up imaginary sums in her head.

'Only decorating?' he asked raising a brow.

'I might do some home cleaning, as an added bonus. Make sure the houses are not infested with creatures that got stuck there.'

'That _could_ raise your profit,' he agreed.

'Well,' he spoke after a pause, 'I'm off to put on my gardening equipment. I'll meet you downstairs. Make sure you eat your breakfast, you'll need your strong voice!'

Luna nodded absently. She was still thinking about her imaginary future job.

Xenophilius stopped suddenly before climbing down the stairs.

'That's odd. I have a strange feeling.'

'Check your nostrils for Wheezes,' she recommended, placing her fingers over hers.

'No, no, that's not it. I just keep feeling we forgot to do something,' he said.

'It's barely half past seven, papa. The day has just started,' she said, waving her hand.

'But I'm sure we were supposed to... Hang on, what day is it?'

Luna frowned.

'If the Honey-Spurks are about to hatch, it means it must be the end of August.'

Her father took out her breast-watch and looked at the stars' position on the sky.

'Good heavens, it's the first of September!' he hollered in a panic.

'First? It can't be first, I would have known,' she said, scratching her head confused.

'Oh, Morgan le Fay be damned! We're going to be so late again!'

'We are?' she asked.

Out of the blue, she fell on the bed roaring with laughter.

'Oh, of course, it's the first!' she exclaimed through bouts of laughter. 'I remember Hermione's letter, warning me not to forget about Wednesday.'

'I knew we'd forgotten something! No matter now, moonbeam, we need to be as fast as lightning. I'll scrounge up some old supplies I have around the house and you get to packing your things.'

'Right away, papa, but first, let me escort you out of moonbeam's residence,' she said politely, curtsying one more time as her father climbed down the stairs hastily.

Luna straightened her back and skipped towards the trey on the table, popping a biscuit in her mouth as she poured herself some tea.

'I suppose the chains will have to wait,' she said, surveying her room critically.

She needed to repaint the walls too.

No time for dawdling however. She emptied her cup of tea and placed a thumb on the inside of her lip.

She started whistling loudly.

The air suddenly felt charged. The energy seemed to be floating all around her.

She opened her mouth wide and started swallowing as much air as possible as she skipped about the room, stopping at her cabinets and drawings to pull out her clothes and books.

As soon as she was done with one corner, she took a deep breath, opened her mouth again and began swallowing the air from the other corner, while putting her belongings on the bed.

Ten minutes later, her father came up again, holding some tattered notebooks, a pack of dogeared textbooks, a bunch of blunt quills and several half-empty inkpots.

He smiled when he saw his daughter running about with her mouth open.

'You need to stop stealing the air's energy, moonbeam, it's not fair for everyone else,' he mentioned.

'I'm the only occupant of the room so I suppose the energy in here belongs to me,' she explained rationally.

'Well yes, but then the energy needs to be replaced from other rooms which are not yours,' he corrected her.

'Oh, just this once, _daddy_,' she said sweetly, dropping the recent decorum she'd been applying all morning.

'Well, this is all I could find,' he said, placing the heap gently into her open trunk.

'These textbooks are from last year,' she said, flipping through them nonchalantly, 'but everything else is of perfect usage.'

'What are you going to do about textbooks, darling?'

'I will probably borrow some from my fellow colleagues, or from Madam Pince,' she said giddily.

'Madam Pince?'

'The school librarian always saves some for me, for some reason. She's very sweet,' she said, stuffing her trunk with her belongings.

'Which reminds me, I should probably return these to her,' she said, pointing at the textbooks.

Xenophilius felt slightly more relieved to know at least half of what they should have done days ago seemed to be under control.

'You'll be needing the Quibbler's special Memory Telescope and I should probably pack your toolset too, just in case you have to run some experiments incognito. Oh, the Handless Gloves! Those will come in handy too!'

He rushed downstairs again.

'Daddy, will we be flying to the train station again?' she asked from above.

'You bet, moonbeam!' he yelled from below.

* * *

><p>Xenophilius managed to land his broomstick gracefully enough on platform nine and three-quarters without causing Luna and her luggage to fall backwards. Luna's hair however was flying in all different directions and would need extensive combing to get back into shape.<p>

This was the third year in a row when Xenophilius had come by broomstick and no one was taken by surprise anymore, especially since he always seemed to land at the very end of the platform and he and his daughter would always have to run towards the train, broomstick under his arm and luggage under hers, making them a rather silly, but completely forgettable sight for almost everyone.

This year would be very special though. They wouldn't go unnoticed anymore, because Luna Lovegood now had friends.

'Remember, moonbeam, a bite doesn't mean the creature doesn't like you, it might mean hello in a different language. Also, safety always comes first so don't walk alone too often because the Wrackspurts are just waiting for an opportunity like that.'

'Yes, daddy, I'll keep everything you say in mind,' she said, taking mental notes.

'Study hard, but only if you feel it is in any way relevant to what you already know to be right. Be tolerant of any new piece of information until it is proven useless and don't discredit what you have not yet seen with your eyes,' he continued.

'And Luna, darling,' he added, his tone faltering, 'please tell your friends to be more careful. I am very proud of you and everything you've accomplished this past year but I don't want to hear you went out of Hogwarts unannounced again. I want to know you'll be in one piece next time I see you.'

'I'll probably be in several pieces anyway, which is not a bad thing,' she replied hugging him. 'But I will be careful.'

They exchanged more goodbyes before her father kissed her loudly on the forehead and turned around quickly to find his broomstick, which he had dropped momentarily.

For a couple of seconds, Luna looked around in a daze. There were so many parents and children walking back and forth around her that it made her wonder how she would find her way on the train.

She was instantly gratified when she saw a bushy-haired girl with sparkling brown eyes running towards her.

'Luna! It's so good to see you!' Hermione exclaimed, pulling her into an awkward hug. 'Harry, Ron and I have already found a compartment, would you care to join us?'

'I'd like nothing better actually, except maybe some cinnamon tarts,' she said sweetly.

'Hold on, I'll call Ron to help you with the trunks,' she said and she skipped into the train once more.

Luna shook her head and tried struggling with the trunks on her own. Before she had had friends, she had managed all by herself, so she was fairly certain she could do it this time too, despite the fact that it would be a relief to have someone help her for a change.

As she tried pushing her trunks onto the train, she surveyed the platform quietly.

There were many people she knew by sight. Plenty of her Ravenclaw mates too. She recognized three girls from her year. She waved at them cheerfully. They didn't make any gesture, but their eyes fell on her with a special sort of curiosity she had not seen before. She saw Hannah Abbot and Zacharias Smith talking to her left, but they seemed to be engrossed in their conversation so they would probably feel offended if she interrupted. She heard Zacharias mention the Ministry three times, but she tried to ignore the thought that somehow people knew about it in detail. They couldn't, they hadn't been there. They must have been curious about it, but their interest couldn't have amounted to much. However, Lisa Turpin seemed to be telling her otherwise. She gave her a piercing look as she walked by, almost as if she had wanted to ask her a question.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Michael Corner approaching to board the train as well. She felt confident she could say hi to him, at least. He had been in the D.A., after all and he had been Ginny's boyfriend to boot.

'Hello, Michael, sunny day isn't it?' she asked him boldly as he walked by.

He stopped surprised and looked down at her.

'Oh... hi Lovegood. Yes, it's sunny indeed. Good day for a train ride,' he said and nodded his head politely as he climbed up.

He was soon gone. She wondered why he hadn't stayed to chat more. She could have really used his help with the trunks.

At length she had managed to pull them both inside and was now resting against the doors happily.

Hermione and Ron would be very proud to see she had done it without them. But what if they felt offended for not taking their help?

She wondered if she should push her trunks out again. It would be the sensible thing to do, wouldn't it?

Just when she was about to turn around, she heard a great noise behind her.

Someone had almost tripped over her trunks.

'Oh, I hope that didn't break a bone,' she said, wincing.

When she bent down to see who it was she almost yelped with joy.

Neville Longbottom straightened himself embarrassed and smiled weakly at Luna.

'Neville! The second friend today!' she exclaimed.

He seemed confused.

'I met Hermione earlier,' she explained.

'Oh, right. I think I saw her too walking around here somewhere. She and Ron looked busy. Oh, sorry, hi Luna,' he said clumsily, shaking her hand a bit harder than intended.

'Hi, Neville,' she replied. 'Hermione and Ron are probably looking for me. They said they'd help with my trunks.'

'Well, I think they were heading towards the Prefects compartment,' he said awkwardly.

'The Prefects compartment?' she echoed. 'They were made Prefects?'

'Apparently.'

'Oh, you weren't made Prefect then?' she asked.

Neville laughed uneasily. 'What made you think I would ever be?'

Luna turned very serious.

'Well, don't they give this position to very responsible students?'

Neville thought she was being ironic and laughed again.

'Good one, Luna.'

She frowned confused. 'Good what?'

Neville scratched his head. 'I'm betting they can't come and help you anymore. Would you mind if...I helped you instead?'

'Nobody minds help, Neville,' she answered, smiling gratefully, 'and I will help you help me.'

She grabbed one of the trunks while he took the other and they started walking towards the end of the train.

Neville stopped in front of one of the compartments.

'Do you feel a presence?' she asked warily from behind him.

'No, silly, this is Harry's,' he said, chuckling.

A grinning, green-eyed Harry Potter opened the doors suddenly and welcomed them in.

'Luna! I'm so glad Neville found you! Come inside the both of you!'

Neville helped Luna put her trunks up and they both sat down in the seats opposite Harry's.

'How have you been, Luna?' Harry asked.

'Very well, thank you,' she said, extracting her current Quibbler from her small feathery purse. It had a free pair of Spectrespecs inside. She already had three pairs at home but a fourth one wouldn't hurt.

'I hope you've been better this summer, Harry,' she said, not noticing the ill-chosen words.

'Oh, it's been...an improvement. The Burrow helped considerably,' he replied, knowing not to take Luna's words too literally.

'Yes, Ginny and her family are the loveliest people in the neighbourhood.'

'In the neighbourhood?' Neville asked surprised.

'Yes, they're my neighbours. I live not fifty rabbit jumps away,' she replied serenely.

'Huh, well, I had no idea. Did you know, Harry?'

'No...though Ginny must have told me at one point, I must have forgotten. Why didn't you come and visit, Luna?' he asked, just as surprised as Neville.

'Well, I came by for tea last year to see Ginny and I broke two of Mrs. Weasley's favourite saucers. I thought she would need some time to mourn them and that I'd better wait before I visited again.'

'So...you waited an entire year?' Neville asked confused.

'I only waited...' she began counting, 'last August, this year's June, July and August...only four months actually, which is the polite period of time for such things.'

Harry shook his head both amused and perplexed, but Neville seemed to need more explanations.

'Ginny wouldn't have minded and I'm sure Mrs. Weasley had already forgotten all about it...' Neville argued.

'I would have probably not been able to visit either way because of the wards. There was no point lifting them just for me,' she reasoned.

'But you were part of the D.A.!' Neville insisted.

Harry stared at Neville, eyebrow raised. He seemed really affected by this for some reason.

When he noticed Harry's look, Neville quickly looked down.

'Did you happen to see the _Daily Prophet_?' Harry asked, trying to fill the pause in conversation. 'Our little adventure at the Ministry was all over it, you must've noticed.'

'Oh, yeah, I did actually,' Neville said quickly, happy for the change of subject, 'I thought Gran would be angry about all the publicity, but she was really pleased! Says I'm starting to live up to my dad at long last. She bought me a new wand.'

He took out his wand from his pocket. 'Look!'

'Cherry and unicorn hair. We think it was one of the last Ollivander sold, he vanished next day...' Neville trailed off sadly.

'I heard about that. He was such a wise old soul, I hope he is all right,' Luna said quietly.

'Me too. Kindest wand maker I'd ever met. Granted, I haven't met many...' Neville said.

'But if you had, he would have been the kindest,' Luna saved him.

'Right. Of course,' Neville said, nodding his head.

Out of the blue, his old toad Trevor jumped out of its cage placed on top of his trunk.

'Oy, come back here, Trevor!' Neville shouted hopelessly. His toad was always mercilessly seeking its freedom.

'I'll find him, Neville,' Luna said, putting her Spectrespecs on.

Harry couldn't help giggling at the sight of a bespectacled Luna. She looked like a mad owl.

She started searching the room with her new device.

'I can only see Wrackspurts but I can catch their sudden movements which should lead to Trevor,' she said, bending down to search the floor.

Neville bumped into both her and Harry several times before he identified the toad stuck between two seats on the girl's left.

They both jumped for it at the same time.

'I got it!' Luna shouted as she held it out triumphantly. The poor thing had stopped squirming completely as Luna caressed its back softly. She didn't know that Trevor was actually staring wildly at her glasses.

Neville took it from her palm gently and placed it back in the cage.

'Thanks, Luna.'

'I suppose this proves the Spectrespecs are in mint condition,' she said.

'I don't know, you'd have to try them in the dark too,' Neville joked, but this sudden idea illuminated Luna's entire face.

'Of course, you are right,' she said, nodding her head seriously.

Harry smiled warmly at them.

'I definitely missed this,' he said, gesturing between them.

'Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Harry?' Luna asked suddenly.

'No point now we've got rid of Umbridge, is there?'

Neville looked very disappointed.

'I liked the D.A.! I learned loads with you!'

'I enjoyed the meetings too,' Luna chimed in, 'it was like having friends.'

Harry did not know how to react to her reply as he felt the usual odd mixture of sympathy and revolt whenever Luna said things that showed how little she thought of herself.

But Neville seemed to know what she meant.

'I know, everybody seemed to know everyone even though they'd just met! And we had loads of fun,' he quipped.

Luna smiled in acknowledgement.

Harry sighed. Two oddballs usually understood each other better.

The compartment door suddenly slid open and Luna's Spectrespecs fell down her nose.

She noticed a flock of Fourth-Year girls standing in front of them, giggling nervously. She decided she didn't know them and didn't want to.

'You ask him!'

'No, you!'

'I'll do it!' one of the girls said, detaching herself from the group. She seemed to be the leader, Luna surmised. She had long black hair and a very pointed chin. Her eyes were also abnormally large.

Luna wondered what she'd look like through the Spectrespecs.

She put them back on. Now her eyes were violet and her head was smaller. An improvement, Luna told herself.

'Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane,' she almost barked out. 'Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them.'

She said this pointing at Neville, who was flipping through Luna's Quibbler which had fallen out of her lap and Luna herself who was measuring her through her psychedelic glasses.

'They're friends of mine,' Harry spoke coldly.

'Oh,' Romilda said drawing back. She seemed surprised. 'Oh, okay.'

'Sorry, is that V-a-i-n or V-a-n-e?' Luna suddenly asked out of curiosity.

'Excuse me?' Romilda asked, getting slightly red.

'It's just they're both pronounced the same way. I was only wondering if your name is symbolic of you.'

Romilda thought Luna was trying to be smart. Having no witty comeback in mind, she walked out angrily and shut the door behind her loudly.

'Ha, ha, brilliant, Luna!' Neville said, doubling up.

'Yeah, nice going,' Harry agreed, chuckling.

Luna seemed unfazed.

'Mere curiosity,' she mumbled.

'I hope we don't see her too soon,' Harry said, looking back at the closed door.

'She has a point, though,' Luna said. 'People expect you to have cooler friends than us.'

'You are cool,' Harry said firmly. 'None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me.'

'That's a very nice thing to say,' beamed Luna. She moved closer to Neville so she could look at the Quibbler over his shoulder.

'We didn't face him, though,' Neville argued, his voice somehow smaller, 'you did. You should hear my Gran talk about you. "That Harry Potter's got more backbone than the whole Ministry of Magic put together!" She'd give anything to have you as a grandson, she's said so a couple of times...'

'If she really had, she would have adopted Harry years ago,' Luna intervened.

Neville looked at her strangely.

'Are you saying my Gran _should_ have adopted Harry?'

'No, just that she talks in hyperboles,' she said.

'Hyper-what?'

'Wild exaggerations used to accentuate the speaker's meaning. They're sort of a nice way to stretch the imagination, but not exactly necessary in casual speech. Nor are they truthful.'

'So then, my Gran talks _wildly_?'

'I'd have to meet her to confirm.'

Neville shook his head blushing, but Harry laughed out loud.

Luna felt happy to see Harry was enjoying their company though she couldn't for her life understand why he was so amused.

'I got my OWLs a few weeks ago,' Neville said, changing the subject. 'They sure came as a surprise. I thought I'd failed almost everything.'

'Now _you_ are talking in hyperboles. You probably got an O in Herbology to begin with,' Luna quipped.

'Well, guess there's no point in hiding that...' Neville trailed off, embarrassed.

As he began enumerating his grades, Luna noticed a gradual shift in Harry's mood. He became pensive and melancholy.

'You all right, Harry? You look funny,' Neville said.

'Sorry, I...' he began.

'Wrackspurts again,' Luna said gravely, 'I knew these little things wouldn't relent. First Trevor, now Harry.'

'Okay, what are those exactly?' Harry asked, deciding he might as well know for future conversations.

'They're invisible, as you might have noticed. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy but usually they just fly around wreaking havoc.'

Neville scoffed.

'They can't get my brain any fuzzier than it is.'

'Oh, you'd be surprised,' she said smiling.

She waved her hands around the air, warding off the invisible fiends.

'I would give them some powdered sugar if I had any on me, they respond to it very positively, oh well,' she said, sitting back down and taking the Quibbler from Neville's lap.

He didn't mind as he had finished reading an article about the _real_ origins of gnomes and wasn't quite ready for more.

They all settled in a pleasant silence as the train hurdled past wide expanses of empty fields and deserted valleys. The weather had changed from sunny to bristling, but the sky seemed to be clearing up.

During one of Harry and Neville's Quidditch conversations the compartment doors flew open and Ron and Hermione walked in looking positively alarmed.

'Luna! We're so sorry about leaving you there, it was all a big misunderstanding, I hope you received help, we were called for duty, you see and...' Hermione began in a fast torrent that would allow no interruption.

Luna waved her hand lazily.

'There's nothing to apologize for. As you can see I made it and I didn't lose any spirit on it,' she said happily.

Hermione didn't really understand what she meant by losing spirit, but she let it go.

'Hi, Neville, Luna, glad to see you here,' Ron said quickly, sitting down, 'Merlin, I hope the lunch trolley hurries up, I am starving.'

Luna looked around pleased. Only one friend was missing to make it complete; her beloved best friend, Ginny Weasley.

She hoped she would be here soon enough. But everyone else was here. It felt like home.


	2. Chapter 2

_So, here is the second chapter of Luna's adventures. It's about the same length as the first, but don't expect this length to stick, it will vary, depending on the chapter. I wanted to thank all the reviewers for the kind reviews and the much needed encouragement. Thanks to anonymous reviewer Lexi as well and to all the readers._

_Please tell me what you think and enjoy:)_

_P.S. I don't know if anyone's noticed but I made a silly mistake in the first chapter about Hermione and Ron being made prefects, which of course happened the previous year. So they've been prefects for a year now. Sorry about that, I mixed up Fifth Year with Sixth Year because it's Luna's Fifth Year and my mind rushed to conclusions. This mistake has of course been rectified in this chapter, but plot-wise, you can blame it on Luna being absent-minded and thinking Neville would deserve a prefect badge for all he's done anyway. So sorry about the confusion, I promise it won't happen again:)  
><em>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Two: Twenty-two Questions<span>

For a while, Luna could let herself be engrossed in her Quibbler in the safe knowledge that her friends were chatting happily around her and that all of them wanted her to be there. It's not that she felt an intrinsic need to be wanted; most of the times she found herself in various groups she did not belong to and it didn't bother her one bit. Now, however, the issue of belonging was starting to grow in importance because for the first time since she could remember she had friends and friends implied caring, which in term implied the need to be cared for by those said friends. It was the first time she was aware of reciprocation. It was new and fascinating.

She was in the middle of a stormy love story between a Dust Dragon and a Ladybug when something Ron Weasley said caught her attention.

"...and you won't believe it. Malfoy's not doing prefect duty. He's just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed."

"What did he do when he saw you?" Harry asked.

"Nothing at all! That's the big mystery!" Hermione said in his place. "He just sneered and made a weak comment about how it's a miracle we're still prefects. But nothing else. It was as if he'd never met us."

Luna by now noticed that Harry's mood had changed. He was no longer absent-minded or casually making jokes about the OWLs results. He looked completely alert. It seemed that the Malfoy topic had quite an appeal to him for some reason.

"And...he's not out there, humiliating Gryffindors, bullying First-Years and the usual?' Neville asked surprised.

"You'd think he wouldn't miss it for the world..." Ron trailed off.

"That doesn't sound like him," Harry remarked pensively. "He'd take any chance to abuse his power."

"Maybe he preferred the Inquisitorial Squad," Hermione offered. "Maybe being a prefect seems a bit tame after that."

"I don't believe Malfoy knows the notion of _tame_," Ron commented.

"I meant that it might not be enough for him to just scold children for staying out after curfew," Hermione explained.

"Yeah he'd probably like to murder a couple of them, too," Ron said darkly.

Luna put her Quibbler down with a soft thud.

"Hermione is right," she said suddenly. Everyone's eyes landed on her. They hadn't expected her to say that of all things.

"I am?" Hermione asked surprised. Luna conceded that she and the girl didn't always see eye to eye, but this one was a simple matter of logics.

"Like Hermione surmised, being a prefect is not enough for him anymore."

There was a big pause. Everyone waited for Luna to continue her argument, but she had stopped altogether.

"That's it?" Harry asked at length.

"Oh, you meant for me to go on?" Luna asked surprised. "I thought that would be revealing enough. Alright, well, if being a prefect isn't enough for him anymore, it means he has his eyes set on a _position _that will," she explained staring at Ron's large shock of red hair.

"Oh, of course," Ron drawled sarcastically, "how did we not add two plus two?"

"That's...that's a bit of a stretch, isn't it, Luna?" Hermione asked warily.

Luna blinked surprised. In her mind it made perfect sense. She recalled how frightened she had been when Lucius Malfoy had attacked them at the Ministry the previous year. Luna rarely felt fear of the unknown, but this was the kind of "unknown" she knew too well. His sinister Death Eater mask, his smooth, placid voice, his callous behaviour, his cruel desire to gain power no matter the consequences, these were all things she had seen before, things her mother had warned her against when she had been very young. She had told her that people tried to enslave people. It made no sense to Luna for whom freedom was of the highest esteem, but it made sense to people like Lucius Malfoy, who had probably never been free.

It was not impossible, then, for her to consider that a child raised by such a father might end up having the same hunger for power, because power _was_ freedom to the Malfoys and to all those men in masks.

It wasn't a stretch at all, therefore, to think that Draco Malfoy might become a Death Eater as well.

Wasn't it as clear to them as it was to her?

"A stretch would be if he killed children, like Ron said," Luna argued swiftly.

"Hey! That's not what I –" Ron began, trying to defend himself.

"Regardless, just because he's fed up with this school, doesn't mean he's turned to the Dark Arts...or the Dark Side," Hermione replied.

"Well, you can never be too sure about these things," Luna said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So you should just assume the worst?"

"And the best," Luna added. "You should assume the best and the worst every time, right? That's what daddy tells me, anyway."

"And what would be the best here?" Harry spoke for the first time.

Luna almost flinched. His voice was very urgent. He was staring at her as if she had all the answers. Clearly her comment had set something off. He probably suspected the worst himself.

"The best would be if Malfoy decided to distance himself from his father's dreadful influence, realizing the consequences of such a path. Actually, the _very_ best would be if he turned spy for Dumbledore."

"Spy for Dumbledore?" Ron echoed baffled. "That'll be the day!"

"Yes, it would seem like the typical romantic scenario," she contemplated serenely. "He would be a tortured soul and no one would ever understand him. He would lead a double life."

Hermione made an incredulous face.

"We're not seriously considering that, are we?"

"Well, it could go both ways, really, but the balance hangs towards..." Luna trailed off, weighing both possibilities in her hands. She _was_ actually taking it seriously.

She shook her head suddenly.

"Well, I can't tell right now, the Wrackspurts are giving me a hard time. It's probably somewhere in between," she concluded, rubbing her hands on her trousers as if disposing of the weights.

"You do like to think far, Luna, I'll give you that. But it's _very_ unlikely Malfoy turned rogue," Hermione said amused.

"So," Harry began, "we'd have to settle for Death- "

"Or neither," Neville spoke suddenly.

Luna's eyes darted towards his in curiosity. Neville rarely talked, but when he did, he was bound to say something interesting.

"You lot keep making guesses," he continued, his tone soft, "but what if we're just...well, making guesses? We like to think we know, but maybe Malfoy will go back to torturing First-Years as soon as we're off this train. Or maybe he'll just keep sulking. It's not like we _really_ know him."

Luna had to admit she had not thought of this possibility. Her mind had been swimming in variables, thinking that Malfoy would have to go this way or that way, but she'd been ignoring her father's advice. _Never be too quick to judge_.

"Neville, the git has been putting you down since you first met!" Ron protested.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't _really_ know me, either, does he?" Neville said chuckling.

"That's very noble and wise, Neville," Luna said, patting his hand briefly.

Neville quickly pulled his hand away, trying to hide the red spots that had appeared on his cheeks. He settled on staring at his shoes.

"Sure, it's noble all right, but how noble is it to let Malfoy walk all over you?" Ron asked.

"I think what Neville means – " Harry began.

Before he could speak his mind, however, the compartment door opened with a jolt and what appeared to be a shaking Third-Year girl walked in, breathlessly.

Luna wondered if Harry had taken a Veela Elixir that made him irresistible to all females. Otherwise she couldn't explain the throng of girls lining up to see him.

Then again, Hermione didn't seem affected, but Hermione was obviously deeply in love with Ron. As for her, she was quite sure her mother had made her impervious to just about any magical potion out there, since she had spent a good portion of her childhood swallowing whatever she could find in her mother's laboratory.

"I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom and Harry P-Potter," she spoke weakly, gawking at Harry as if she had never seen a boy before. She could barely hide her blush. She handed them two scrolls tied with violet ribbons and then she turned around mechanically and slammed the compartment door shut.

Luna observed casually how just about everyone had abused that poor door today.

"What is it?" Ron demanded.

Luna once again leant over Neville's shoulder and read the note.

"An invitation," she answered in Harry's place.

Harry nodded his head and began reading.

_Harry, _

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C. _

_Sincerely_,

_Professor H. E. F. Slughorn_

"But what does he want me for?" Neville asked amazed.

"Probably for the same reason he wants Harry, the invitation is identical," Luna observed coolly.

"Well, whatever it is, there is only one way to find out," Harry said, getting up.

"Listen," he added suddenly as if struck by a particular idea, "let's go under the Invisibility Cloak, then we might get a good look at Malfoy on the way, see what he's up to."

"I don't know Harry... I don't see the point, really and we'd surely get caught," Neville advised.

Harry had to agree with him when he noticed how busy the corridor actually was. There was no way they could have gone by unnoticed.

"I'll see you in a bit," Harry said, walking out of the compartment.

Neville looked back and his eyes landed on Luna's. She smiled encouragingly, but he shook his head and turned around quickly.

Luna was a bit mystified by Neville's odd mannerisms, but she accounted them to the mysterious invitation.

Finding herself suddenly alone with Hermione and Ron she felt a bit overwhelmed.

Barely had the two left the compartment when they started bickering again about Prefect Rounds.

"We already settled this, Ronald! I am going to patrol with Hannah and you are going with Ernie, just like last year!"

"I can't do it anymore, Hermione! Ernie is the biggest bore I've ever met, all he ever does is talk about his coin collection, as if Muggle money held any interest to me!" Ron protested.

"_Muggle_ money, as you call it Ron, is one of the main principles of our modern world and has the same value as Magical currency!"

"Same value? I beg to differ! Dad's told me all about it and I could make a bet right here – " Ron began hotly.

Luna coughed shyly.

"I think I'll go see what Ginny is doing. I'm starting to miss her," she said, getting up.

"You're leaving?" Hermione asked, looking almost frightened at the thought. Luna smiled amused.

"Don't worry, my mental presence will remain here, if you two need my input, though I doubt it," she said, opening the compartment door.

The corridor was blocked an all sides by chatting students. Luna saw the Food Trolley lagging behind her.

"Good news, Ronald, the Food Trolley is almost here," she told Ron, shutting the door softly after hearing a very hearty "Thank Merlin!"

She walked by several familiar heads who turned around after her in curiosity and hoped that no one would actually stop her for questions.

She passed Padma Patil, wearing her prefect badge, inspecting the Second-Year compartments for any disturbances, and to her left she saw Cho Chang talking idly to Terry Boot outside her doorway.

At one point, Terry leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Cho laughed heartily and cast a cursory glance towards Luna before bursting into laughter again.

Luna wondered if they were talking about her.

But surely, she wouldn't inspire so much happiness. It must be some very good joke.

She almost bumped into Marietta Edgecombe who, upon seeing her, darted her head quickly and rushed away before Luna could see her face.

She shook her head in pity. Hermione had been particularly harsh with that curse, but then again she _had_ ratted them out and secrets, especially collective ones, were sacred, Luna believed.

She had spotted Dean Thomas, Ginny's current boyfriend and D.A. member from afar, and she was confident she would find her best friend there, but before she could move, a tall, blond boy stepped in front of her and blocked her way, his face all black and blue, blood gushing out from his nose.

"Oh, Zacharias, that looks horrible! Did a bat scratch your face like that? They can be vicious when they are hungry," Luna said worriedly. Coincidently, it had been a bat which had caused the damage, but Zacharias Smith thought she was mocking him about Ginny's infamous Bat-Bogey curse she had inflicted upon him.

"You think this is _funny_, Lovegood? Do you see me _laughing_ about it?" he asked angrily.

"No, I don't believe you can _see_ laughter," she observed. "But I would never find humour in an injury, especially a bat injury."

"Well you can thank your crazy friend Weasley for this! You two are really meant for each other!" he shrieked, covering his nose in pain.

"I don't suppose you mean Ron, because he already likes Herm – "

"Oh, you want to play games, Loony? I can play games too, you know, I'm going to count to five for you to answer my questions or I'll - !"

"You'll get hexed again and your face will be far worse than that."

Dean Thomas was hovering over his shoulder menacingly, his wand already stabbing Zacharias in the back.

"Now you turn around and leave Luna alone," he muttered, staring daggers at him.

Zacharias faltered. Luna could see he was weighing his options.

"I could heal those for you," she offered, pointing at his face.

"Out of my way!" he hollered angrily and pushed past her.

Luna stared after him in pity.

"That is going to leave scars."

"It better. The git deserves it," Dean said, smiling ruefully. "How are you, Luna?"

"Better, now that I'm not being yelled at," she confessed smiling.

"You can come join us in our compartment," he offered, pointing at a door behind him.

"Only D.A. members there," he added, winking.

"Well, I was actually looking for Ginny, since I haven't seen her at all."

"Oh, well, you just missed her," he said, pointing at Zacharias' shrinking figure. "She really went all out on that curse. Anyways, she's been summoned by some professor apparently in compartment C."

"Oh. It must be Professor Slughorn then. Both Harry and Neville have received invitations."

"They have, huh? Well what do you think that's all about?"

"Well, I'm only hoping Professor Slughorn doesn't turn out to be another Cornelius Fudge."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, selecting students from various groups is very similar to the kind of special operations Cornelius performed when he built his armies," Luna said, in hushed tones.

Dean raised an eyebrow confused and nodded his head uneasily.

"Right, let's hope...that's not the case."

"We will find out when the three return," she said conspiratorially.

"Meanwhile, you could wait with us," Dean said quickly before she could expand on her theories. "We've got a free seat with Ginny gone."

Luna agreed happily and joined Dean in what he called the "D.A. compartment".

Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil greeted her warmly as they made room for her to sit down.

"Luna, we're so glad you're here!" Parvati exclaimed sitting up.

"Oh...that's new," Luna said pleasantly surprised.

"We haven't been able to talk to anyone, you see, and Ginny's being so secretive about it! It was all over the _Daily Prophet _but how can anyone still trust that newspaper anymore? After all, they were the ones who claimed You-Know-Who was _not_ back in the first place. But you were there, fighting with Harry and the others. We can trust your word. You'll tell us, won't you?"

Luna had dreaded this all day. She met their expectant eyes and shrank further in her seat. She felt very uncomfortable. She used to be much happier when they weren't aware of her existence, now she was put on the spot, with no possible escape from their inquiries.

"My account is not very different from the Prophet's really," she began meekly. "I would simply repeat myself. And that would be mundane."

"Mundane? But Luna you fought Death Eaters! Actual Death Eaters! You almost died! How can that be mundane?" Lavender exclaimed impatiently.

"Now, now, you two, give her room to breathe. You won't even let her form sentences," Seamus intervened.

"We're not going to rush you, Luna. We just want you to know we're on Harry's side all the way and he can trust us. We're still part of D.A. after all," he added, patting her shoulder awkwardly.

"Well, if you're on Harry's side, why didn't you answer his call last year? Only Neville and I..."

"You have to understand we weren't even sure Harry was...well, we believed in him of course, but we heard Umbridge and her stupid Squad had caught him and we weren't sure it would be safe for us to reveal ourselves," Seamus explained awkwardly.

"I understand," Luna conceded.

"Look, Luna, we have a right to know too. We may not have participated, but we did risk our skins with the secrecy, didn't we?" Lavender intervened.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing left to know. You've all read everything. In fact, you might even know more, I was cursed towards the end and I don't remember everything that happened," she said politely.

"Cursed? By who? One of the Death-Eaters? Did Harry save you?" the girls asked in excitement.

"I read about that, it was Macnair, wasn't it?" Seamus asked.

"No, silly, Macnair had already been stunned, she got cursed much later..." Parvati corrected him.

"See? You already know just about everything there is to know," she said tiredly, looking out the window.

"Not everything, surely there is more!"

"There really isn't."

"Well, is that really all you're going to say?" Lavender sneered.

"I'm sorry," she offered softly.

"Sorry? That's a bit of a letdown, don't you think?" Parvati asked disappointed.

Luna stubbornly kept her eyes on the scenery outside. She was determined not to say anything more, afraid she might offend someone else or her own dignity.

"Are you sure you didn't get cursed before the battle even started? I can't see any other reason why you won't share," Lavender insisted.

"That's idiotic, Brown, the _Daily Prophet_ clearly documented otherwise," Seamus corrected her.

"I thought we weren't going to trust the _Daily Prophet_ anymore," she huffed.

After everyone realized she wasn't going to tell them anything else, Dean Thomas decided to break the tension and change the subject.

"We're sorry we're being rude Luna, we're just very curious. Everyone is. Say, do you know if we're going to have any D.A. meetings this year?"

Luna turned her head relieved.

"Well, Harry said we wouldn't anymore with Umbridge gone but I think we should keep them going."

"I do too," Dean replied warmly. "We need all the training we can get. Next time it's not going to be just a couple of us, it's going to be _all_ of us fighting."

Luna nodded in approval.

"Harry's probably going to be too busy to teach us, though, he was made Captain of the Quidditch team, did you hear?" Seamus asked.

"Oh, right. But he has free periods. We all do, well, except you, Luna," Dean said.

"I think he'll trust that the new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher will do his job this time," Luna spoke.

"Even so, I see no point to cease the meetings," Dean argued.

"Me neither. We should discuss this with everyone in the group," Luna suggested.

"You mean, have a sort of get-together to vote or something?" Parvati asked.

"Yes. If Harry sees how many of us want to continue he might be persuaded," Luna reasoned.

"I think the D.A. would actually expand this year, if you know what I mean," Lavender said, smirking.

Luna furrowed her brows confused.

"New members?"

"Just imagine all the girls who will be there just to get a chance to talk to Harry. We'd have an entire army."

"They can talk to Harry all the time," Luna protested.

Lavender rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, Luna, who has the courage to approach him directly like that?"

"Several girls did earlier," she said, alluding to the rude Fourth-Year girls.

"Really?" Parvati asked curious.

"They invited Harry to come sit with them. He refused them, of course," Luna replied.

"Wait, you mean you sat with Harry?" Lavender asked.

"Implicitly."

"Was Ron there?" she suddenly asked.

"Ron?"

"Yes, Ron Weasley, who else?" she said impatiently.

"Yes, he was there, of course. Neville and Hermione were there too."

"Of course Hermione would be there, they're inseparable," Lavender said grimly. "How did Ron look, though?"

"As usual, red hair, full of freckles," Luna replied absently.

Seamus started sniggering.

"Shut up, Seamus!" Lavender yelled.

"Did he...well, I mean did he happen to mention anything related to me?" Lavender asked hopefully.

"No, I'm afraid he was occupied flirting with Hermione," Luna said inspecting the dust moats above her head.

"WHAT? They were flirting? So it's true? They got together over the summer?"

"Not officially I believe, but one of them is bound to burst out in a declaration soon."

Lavender's world seemed to fall on her shoulders. She slumped back into her seat and covered her head with what looked like a very colourful magazine she had been reading.

"It's hopeless then, he'll probably never even notice me, will he?" she muttered.

"Oh. Do you like Ronald?" Luna asked patiently.

"She's had a crush on him for a while now," Parvati answered for her. "Poor thing kept hoping."

"Gee, Parvati, why don't you go scream it on the corridor?" Lavender asked upset.

"Don't be too sad, Lavender, it was simply not meant to be between you two. You'll find someone else much nicer, I'm sure," Luna replied kindly.

That seemed to incite Lavender's anger rather than comfort her.

"Well, someone like you can't exactly be trusted with...romantic matters, because you're not exactly stellar at social interactions. So maybe you're not entirely right, because Ron has never shown much enthusiasm about dating Hermione Granger. He could have asked her out all these years, but he didn't. He didn't even ask her to the Yule Ball. And last year, he was openly ignoring her during our D.A. meetings."

"God, Lavender, just because you took that stupid quiz doesn't mean you should latch on to false hope," Parvati said, rolling her eyes impatiently.

"Twenty-two Questions is a serious questionnaire! It's very complex and thorough. And it's scientifically proven."

This seemed to stir Luna's curiosity.

"Twenty-two questions?" she asked.

Lavender muttered something annoyed and pushed her magazine right under Luna's nose.

"It's the latest _Witch Weekly_," she explained.

Luna took the magazine from her and read the large title written in bold, red, sparkling letters.

_How To Know If You Are Matched: Twenty-two Questions to seal the deal! _

"According to that, we are a 97% match," Lavender said. "It's almost a perfect match and I trust _Witch Weekly_. It has never failed me before."

"Well...everything has a start," Seamus commented.

"Oh, shut up, you haven't had a date in what? Never?" Lavender teased.

Luna surveyed the questionnaire in fascination. She had never seen anything so absorbingly stupid before. There was no meaning, no sense, no rhyme or reason to it, it had nothing to do with relationships of any kind, and yet she understood why people would commit to this. It gave one a false sense of security.

"The Quibbler has a similar quiz on how to match blood types with magical creatures. Except they give you blood samples," she said, putting the magazine down.

"Gross, Luna," Parvati said, wrinkling her nose.

"So, do _you_ have anyone in mind for that questionnaire?" Lavender asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked unfazed.

"Come off it, Lovegood, you must fancy _someone_," she insisted.

"I bet it's Harry," Parvati said.

Luna shook her head. "That would seem incestuous."

"So then, who is it? Is it someone we know?" the girls asked.

Luna wracked her brains for an answer to this question. Was there someone she actually fancied? The word itself was a bit ambiguous to her. She fancied flying with her dad, she fancied reading and cooking. She didn't know if she could exactly fancy _someone_.

Fancying seemed more activity-oriented. Whereas liking or loving someone...

"No, there isn't anyone," she replied quickly.

There wasn't, because she liked just about everyone, as long as they weren't completely evil. Well, maybe she wasn't very fond of Zacharias. And she was obviously more partial to her close friends like Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville... But that was only natural. It didn't mean she liked someone in particular. It only meant she liked in general.

"Liar. You're so crushing on someone, we know it," Parvati insisted.

"I wouldn't lie about feelings," she said, although a streak of red had appeared on her left cheek.

"Anyways," Lavender said, snatching her magazine back, "it says here that if the match is over 90% then it's bound to..."

As the girls chatted away about the love quiz and the boys settled into their own separate conversation, hopefully not about _Witch Weekly_, Luna was free to gather her thoughts and take in everything that had happened so far as the train sped on towards Hogwarts.

She felt as though she had been asked twenty-two questions herself today.


	3. Chapter 3

_ Well yes, time for another update on my Luna story and it's another long chapter, but be warned, I have a habit of taking things slowly, so by the end of this one you might feel more stuff should have happened, but I'll let you be the judge of that. _

_Big, massive, huge thanks to my readers and reviewers, you are lovely:_

_**KaramelKat**: Thanks a lot for sticking with the story even if it wasn't your cup of tea at first, I'm happy you want to read more:)_

_**Mimi**: Thank you for the kind words, I'm so glad I managed to capture some of that HP magic, it's funny because just now I was saying that this story was going to take things pretty slow and I'm happy you concur:)_

_**sadey**: yey :)_

_**accio**: double yey:)_

_**blurgh**: don't worry, not abandoned, I like it too much and am too fond of both Luna and Neville to ever really drop it, thanks for the love:)_

_**DuchessOfDementia**: First off, why didn't I think of this penname? Second, I am really flattered you are so attached to this story and really happy you like it so much. Am completely humbled by the Jo Rowling comparison since I adore her to the moon and back. And yes, not following canon when needed can be a nuisance, but I hope never to fall into that. Thanks again for the lovely review:)  
><em>

_**im back**: I just have, so I'm back too :)_

_Hope you all enjoy this chapter and sorry for the wait, you know how it gets sometimes when ideas refuse to take shape in your head (incidentally, I rewrote this chapter twice).  
><em>

Chapter Three: Remembrall

"...but you have to tickle it a bit around the liver area before you can cut off the eczema. Even if it's unconscious, the body will react. It will relax and allow you to make a good incision. I know it's a bit strange but they react very well to laughter," Luna was explaining to a harrowed-looking Dean Thomas as they sat alone in the train compartment.

Parvati and Lavender had left to visit Padma and Seamus had gone in search of the Food Trolley which had yet to make an appearance in that part of the train.

Dean had made the mistake of asking Luna what she was thinking about. She hadn't said a word since the girls left. Truth be told, she had needed time to gather her thoughts after everything she had heard that day, but she was slowly coming back to the present time. And this meant she was already contemplating the things which would procure her immediate pleasure once she was off the train. One of them, she confessed out loud, being surgery.

Out of all possible answers, Dean had not expected that.

"Surgery?" he had asked puzzled.

"Performing surgery, to be specific," she had explained.

"On what exactly?" he had asked again.

"On some of our pets at home," she had said, waving her hand dismissively as if he was not supposed to pay heed. "I was only making a mental plan in my head. Once I reach Hogwarts, I have to put it into practice."

"What plan, Luna? I'd like to hear," Dean had offered, feeling bored enough to listen.

"My father and I have been trying to treat several Shrinking Hippopotamuses, you see."

And that is how it had all begun. Ten minutes later, they were mid-surgery and Dean had gone from curious to shocked, to disgusted, to scared, and finally to visibly shaken as Luna had gone in detail to describe the anatomy and careful procedures of operating on a mass of grease and scales. She had not left out the part where one would have to suck out the puss of the eczema in order to fully cut it out.

"We usually use our mouths, dad and I, because using a chemical dropper can damage the skin," she had said happily.

Luna admitted, though, as she noticed Dean's green-coloured face that she might have gotten carried away with the entire thing, but it was only because she was so excited to save this endangered species. She took pleasure in describing what she considered 'the miracles of medicine', especially when those miracles served to save countless of invaluable creatures.

"Finally, and here is where I'll stop before I start ranting, you isolate the eczema in a sanitized receptacle for further observation. Father likes to put it in a jar and use mould or acid to attack it. Sometimes though, we feed it to the Drotes in the garden, they would eat just about anything you give them and they need energy to burn up the rabbit faeces."

It was then that the compartment doors flew open and a jolly-looking Seamus stepped in, carrying a heap of candy and snacks.

"Who wants Chocolate Frogs?" he asked, holding a brown packet in front of Dean.

He instantly got up and put a hand over his mouth.

"Excuse me...bathroom..." he muttered hastily before shutting the door behind him.

"Huh, what's gotten into him?" Seamus asked, sitting down.

Luna bit her lip guiltily. "It might be my fault. I think he might be squeamish. Though, I tried to leave out the blood and he was really curious about those Shrinking Hippopotamuses even though I told him he shouldn't care."

Seamus made an alarmed face, but before he could inquire any further the compartment doors opened again. Hoping it was Dean so she could apologize, Luna instead saw an erratic looking Ginny Weasley walk in with what looked like a Pumpkin pasty in her left hand.

"Luna!" she yelled happily.

"Ginny!"

The girls pulled each other in a tight hug, Ginny trying not to drop the Pumpkin pasty in her hand. Luna began telling her how much she had missed her. An infinite stream of words fell from their mouths as they tried to make up for the time lost. Seamus had to sit and watch in amusement.

"God, I thought that stupid meeting would never end," she complained to Luna. "Slughorn had me sitting with the likes of Blaise Zabini and he was such a freak. He kept ogling at me as if I had grown another head."

"No, not another one in sight. I would tell if you if you did," Luna joked, sitting down next to her friend.

"And then Harry and Neville showed up, looking miserable of course, and we wasted ten minutes trying to explain how we all knew each other, all the while the Slytherins were whispering about us like idiots because they have nothing better to do and we just had to take it. Not to mention, Slughorn made Neville promise he would bring photos of his grandma for the next Slug Club meeting, if you can imagine something more embarassing."

"Slug Club? That sounds a bit unorthodox," Luna commented.

"Is that why he called you in, Gin?" Seamus asked surprised. "We all thought you'd get detention or something, not go to a private get-together!"

"I think I would have preferred that, but the truth is a lot weirder. He's rounded up all the...er, _interesting_ students he could find, from his point of view naturally. My Bat-Bogey hex made an impression, apparently, and he decided to invite me to his club. It also helped that I'm a Weasley, of course."

"And he calls it the Slug Club? After his name? That was a smart choice," Seamus drawled sarcastically.

"When you say interesting students, you mean people like Harry and Neville?" Luna asked, wondering why Slughorn had not also invited Ron and Hermione.

"Hardly," Ginny replied, scoffing. "Harry and Neville were brought in because Neville's a pureblood with a tragic past and his parents were favourite students of Slughorn's and Harry...well, I don't think I need to explain _that_. Otherwise, there were mostly rich or famous purebloods who only had their name to go by, and some blokes who had done _something_ special or knew _someone_ who had done something special. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me."

"It sounds as if he is deliberately avoiding the interesting. Well, at least we can breathe in relief that he does not have the intelligence or the intentions of someone like Cornelius Fudge," Luna commented, alluding to her previous talk to Dean Thomas on the subject.

"Cornelius Fudge? What's he got to do with him?" Seamus asked confused.

"He may be a silly man, but he seems harmless," Luna added as an after-thought.

"You mean Slughorn or Cornelius?" Seamus insisted, feeling he was missing something.

"Mm, I suppose, but that doesn't stop him from getting on my nerves," Ginny replied, ignoring him momentarily.

"Slughorn then," Seamus decided bitterly.

"Well, of course, Seamus. Ginny hasn't even met Cornelius to be able to be annoyed with him," Luna told him surprised.

Seamus simply shook his head in resignation and turned to Ginny.

"I don't suppose you'll go to another meeting, then?" he surmised.

"Suppose I do, out of curiosity at least. I mean the man is hilarious, something good is bound to happen. Plus, it would be heartless of me to leave Harry and Neville on their own," Ginny answered, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"We should crack a window, the excitement has gotten to you," Luna said softly, glancing briefly at her friend. Despite the seemingly innocent remark, Ginny guessed from Luna's furtive look that she had been caught slightly off guard and she quickly changed the subject.

"Enough about the new professor, how was everyone's summer? Luna, you have to tell me everything."

Luna took this request very seriously as she rummaged her brain for something pleasant to tell her about her activities that did not involve scalpels or gardening.

"Well, daddy and I visited some of our relatives in Ireland and one of my aunts who has been out of her minds for two years now, left me her entire personal library and I found some amazing volumes on herbology and history! There was one book dedicated entirely to the bathing of new-born snakes and another one depicting the silent wars between the goblins in East Anglia and..."

"Wow, slow down Luna, you travelled to Ireland? How was that like?" Ginny asked.

"Hang on, why didn't you tell me you were coming to Ireland? I could have shown you some places, you could've met my parents!" Seamus exclaimed in frustration.

"Oh, I'm sorry Seamus, but one of our aunts suddenly died during our stay and we had to prepare an impromptu funeral. I could have asked you to come but we were all grieving and you would have been out of place since you had no emotional ties to her," Luna replied bluntly.

Seamus turned bright red as he tried to choke out an apology.

"I'm really sorry for your loss, Luna, I put my foot in it."

"Nonsense, you shouldn't apologize, I have plenty of aunts to go, still."

Ginny laughed, throwing her head back.

"But how was Ireland anyhow? I mean dead aunts aside?" she asked.

The conversation flowed smoothly after that from Luna to Seamus to Ginny as they exchanged impressions on the places they'd seen and the things they had done. By the end of it they had discovered with surprise that Luna had actually been the busiest of them all, but that was very common for a Lovegood, they always had something of crucial importance to accomplish which occupied most of their time, even if it was never actually accomplished.

All throughout their talk, however, Luna had felt a strange sense of detachment between them. It was as if she were somewhere else right now, looking at them behind a screen, seeing, but not really participating or engaging emotionally in what was happening. She knew she belonged to their group and she was aware she was welcome, but there was still an unspoken feeling of uneasiness which seeped into her heart from time to time and reminded her that she had not yet managed to understand them fully and they, in turn, had not her. And this was of great importance to her. If she could not look through a person and see their innermost being, she could not be entirely satisfied and she was left feeling cheated. One would think Ginny was not a mystery to her anymore, but Luna was constantly surprised by her, despite their close friendship, and she was always starved to know more because her friend had this quality about her that most human beings had that made her such a riveting puzzle to solve. But she did not see the same hunger and curiosity in Ginny. The girl did want to get closer to Luna, but she didn't have the patience or didn't feel the need to know her so thoroughly because she already had so many friends and siblings, and also because Ginny was the kind of girl, Luna believed, who didn't need too much information to become someone's good friend. She usually acted on instinct and her instinct rarely failed her. That did not mean Ginny would accept just anyone to be her friend, but it did mean that the friendships she made were driven mostly by feeling.

That is why Ginevra Weasley did not feel cheated if she did not always understand Luna.

Luna did not mind too much. She valued her friendship more than that, but there were moments, such as these, when she felt she was surveying them from a faraway place, where few could reach her and few could reach them, because they were sealed from her as well. Each of them, it seemed, was carefully concealed in a glass castle and breaking the glass was made more difficult by the fact that she was the only one aware they were actually apart.

It was at this point in Luna's thoughts that Dean Thomas returned to their compartment, looking considerably paler than usual.

"Gin, sorry, I can't kiss you right now..." Dean began as he sat down next to her and placed one hand over her knee. "I need to find my tooth brush first."

"I take the fault for that," Luna chimed in. "Dean probably felt sick from my story. I am sorry, I put too much emphasis on detail, when a simple summary would have sufficed. I would kiss her for you Dean, but I don't think it would have the same effect."

Dean almost fell out of his seat at that. Seamus burst into laughter and patted Luna on her leg.

"Good one, Luna, good one," he said, chuckling to himself.

"Is that so, Luna?" Ginny asked, batting her eyelashes at her playfully, trying to keep herself from giggling.

"Something stuck in your eye?" Luna asked sheepishly.

"Never mind," Ginny droned, rolling her eyes, "has that Food Trolley shown up yet? All I managed to snatch from Slughorn was a Pumpkin pasty."

"Afraid you just missed it. I've got some Sugar Quills if that's up your street. Though I suppose we'll be arriving soon, it's getting really dark. Better keep your appetite for the feast," Seamus told her.

Luna looked out the window and noticed that the fields were no longer visible as the night sky and the green lines on the horizon had melted into a blurry image of darkness. Only here and there some small lights immerged from a couple of stray houses perched on top of the hills they passed and when they did, they could see the thin imprints of the buildings on the dark, blue sky and the feeling of isolation and solitude was increased by that one clear vision.

Luna was glad they didn't have to stop in the middle of nowhere at night. She wasn't afraid, but she didn't want to feel like the people in those houses probably felt when they saw a train passing by, filled with happy children. She realized how miserable that could be for someone stuck in a desolate land, especially if that someone did not enjoy being there in the first place.

Her father and mother had lived in complete isolation for a while, before she was born. They had told her everything. It had been an experiment, something they had needed to try for themselves before they started a family. They had enjoyed it for a while, but once the novelty was gone and they found themselves with nothing left to do, they returned.

Still, she had applauded their courage. They had braved it out for four years. She was sure she could never be that strong.

"I'd better go back to my compartment and get my luggage and robes," Luna said more to herself.

Ginny was about to get up as well, meaning to walk her to her compartment, but Dean's arm which was encircled around her waist stopped her midway.

"Oh, Ginny please don't trouble yourself, I can get back on my own. I'll send your love to everyone, don't worry," Luna told her, smiling sweetly.

Ginny gave her a look that said "you're up to something and I know it".

Luna refused to acknowledge it, however.

* * *

><p>When she was safely alone again, she wandered down the corridor for some time (not really rushing to get her things since they still had some minutes left), lost again in her own plans for Hogwarts and how she would divide her activities this year, when she almost walked into someone.<p>

She looked up and much to her surprise she found herself staring right into Hannah Abbott's left nostril.

"Hannah, hello!" Luna exclaimed happily. "I haven't seen you since the DA!"

Hannah looked around concerned, fearing people might hear.

"Not so loud, Luna, the DA's still sort of secret. I mean it's not everyone's business," she explained.

"Oh, right, of course, I'm just happy to have run into you," Luna excused herself.

"I'm equally pleased," Hannah said, smiling. "I was actually looking for Ginny. Zacharias Smith came up to me with a complaint involving her. He said I should give her detention for physical assault. Something about a Bat-Bogey hex. Do you know something about that? He did look like he'd been mangled."

Luna shook her head, chuckling slightly.

"That was me, unfortunately."

"You?" Hannah echoed in disbelief.

It was a common thing for Luna to cover for Ginny when she saw fit.

"He did mention something about Loon - I mean Lovegood taunting him," Hannah said, correcting herself quickly.

"Well, I started it. Ginny was just with me at the time and Zacharias had been unjustly mean to her so I wanted to throw him off a little, but I guess I ended up doing more," Luna lied, smiling in polite sadness.

"And you threw him off with such a painful hex? What can I say, I didn't know you had it in you," Hannah commented, inspecting her with the same suspicious eye as if her story didn't quite add up.

"Of course now I sorely regret it. It was a foolish mistake and I wouldn't ever want to hurt anyone...too badly. I hope he's all right. I really am sorry."

Hannah smiled ruefully. "He will be, it's not that bad. But I do have to give you detention, I'm afraid. You can't pull that off at Hogwarts and get away with it, even though we're not technically there yet. Don't worry, no one likes Zacharias, so I'll just make you clean one of the green houses, I know you like spending time there."

Luna beamed at her in gratitude. "Oh, I would love that! Thank you, Hannah. Just set the date and I'll be there."

"There's no rush. We'll talk after the feast," Hannah dismissed her, preparing to leave.

Then, remembering something suddenly, she turned towards her and took out a small, round object from her pocket.

"Oh Luna? Is this yours? I know you have a habit of...collecting certain items."

Luna took the light glass ball from her and stared at it in awe, as the dark crimson smoke inside it puffed and wheezed softly.

"I believe this is a Remembrall."

"Oh, so it's yours then?"

"No, but I think I know whose it is."

Hannah looked at her questioningly.

"Neville's, of course," Luna said matter-of-factly. "He would be wise enough to carry this around."

"Oh, right, Neville Longbottom. Nice chap. Well, I was afraid it was some awful joke from the twins' shop. You wouldn't believe how many First-Years have tried sneaking dung bombs on the train. Could you please make sure Neville gets it back?" Hannah asked.

"Of course, I was about to suggest that," Luna replied, her eyes glued to the small ball.

"Thanks a lot, Luna, I'll keep in touch," she mumbled briefly, squeezing her shoulder as she passed by.

"I will too, tonight then!" Luna shouted after her, waving her hand.

Now that she had Neville's Remembrall, she had a more imperious reason to reach the compartment faster, but then at the same time, she stopped and realized she had Neville's Remembrall, not just some meaningless trinket she could easily discard.

She wouldn't be a terrible person if she snuck a peek, would she?

_Well, I probably would, but he's my friend and I am curious to know what is on his mind. And this is the closest I'll get_, she reasoned with herself.

She took out her wand and pointed it at the ball, murmuring a Revealing Spell. Luckily, Neville had forgotten to secure it with a password. The password seemed useless though since he had to change Remembralls once every six months.

The ball uncorked slightly and made a fizzy sound after which Luna heard a soft, female voice speak smoothly into her ear.

"Neville Longbottom, age sixteen, Gryffindor student at Hogwarts in his Sixth Year, has put down six important notes since this morning:

1. Write to grandmother as soon as possible about three extra pairs of pants.

2. Give Trevor a tranquilizer.

3. Save a seat for Luna Lovegood on the train, because she is late.

4. Take Luna Lovegood's luggage with you in case she doesn't come back to the compartment.

5. If no. 4 happens, make sure you leave the luggage in the lost luggage closet near the Entrance Hall.

6. Write Luna Lovegood's name on it, if it is not already inscribed."

Luna held out the ball in her hand as it sealed shut once more and turned into bright red again.

Her Ravenclaw brain quickly surmised that Neville had been taking notes throughout the train ride since he couldn't have known she would be late, or leave the compartment at one point. She admired his promptness and quick-thinking.

Then, of course, the observations stopped and she was left wondering what she should say or feel at the moment since everything was so confusing and pleasant in her head. She was truly touched that Neville was so caring and thoughtful towards her. Even though he was her good friend and had proven last year that he cared about her just as much as she did about him, it still came as a surprise because no one usually bothered this much for her needs and whenever it happened, she felt a deep sense of gratitude mixed with an odd feeling of fright, almost as if she wasn't quite sure what the real intentions behind the gesture were, because she had been tricked so many times in the past and while she usually tried keeping her faith in people, she couldn't help but wonder sometimes.

The doubts quickly vanished, however, when she realized once more that this was Neville she was talking about, the nicest boy she had met, after Harry Potter, and she chastised herself for being even slightly suspicious.

She was going to return to their compartment and thank him personally for his kindness and maybe even give him a hug.

_On second thoughts, I'd better just tell him I looked at his notes and that I am terribly sorry. I don't want him to be upset with me, though, but I should tell him the truth_, she told herself, when she reached the familiar sliding doors.

Upon entering the compartment, however, she found it completely empty and, as if on cue, her luggage was also gone.


End file.
